Month: January 2016

We’re in the midst of a revolution – a knowledge revolution. And YOU are a knowledge worker.

(Yes, you, my colleagues in marketing and public relations. And you, my friends working on social media and brand communications of every kind.)

It’s estimated that 88% of the work force has data at its fingertips now and companies expect their workers to use it. Data is the fuel for innovation and the impetus for insightful discovery and change. Each of us must develop a system to create, process and enhance our own knowledge and then manage the knowledge of others by sharing and teaching what we learn.

Knowledge gives us the building blocks of relationships, the methods by which we synthesize complex or conflicting priorities, and the basis for identifying and understanding trends. How do you make connections, understand cause and effect, innovate or strategize without knowledge? You do it all the time, maybe without thinking about it.

Professionally, we’re in the business of making hypotheses, collecting metrics, setting KPIs and measuring performance for our brands but many marketing and PR professionals are not confident about their abilities to gather data and use it well. Many of us stop at reporting metrics (impressions or engagement or web site visitors) but confess to being overwhelmed beyond that effort. You are not delivering knowledge if you stopped there.

I can assure you that you have the right tool for the rest of the job though. You were born with it – a human brain.

Do you want to improve your value as a knowledge worker? Think about your “brainy” skills. Which of these knowledge worker ninja abilities do you need to improve?

Making clear hypotheses.

Finding the right data to study.

Using the right amount of data.

Simplifying data to use what matters most.

Understanding metrics across different data sources.

Comparing data – apples to apples.

Setting key performance indicators.

Predicting performance outcomes.

Thinking divergently.

Thinking convergently.

Developing actionable insights.

Understanding consumers and trends.

Now give your computer a hug because it gives you data. And give your brain a smile because it holds your knowledge.